'Do-Not-Call' Site Swamped

The public's simmering frustration with telemarketers erupted Friday as people hurried to sign up for a new national do-not-call list, registering about 635,000 telephone numbers in the program's first 14 hours.

Registration opened just after midnight. As of noon Friday, the program's Web site was being visited 1,000 times every second, according to the Federal Trade Commission, which operates the registry.

The national registry, an FTC project more than a year in the making, was inaugurated Friday at a White House ceremony led by President Bush.

"Unwanted telemarketing calls are intrusive, they are annoying, and they're all too common," Mr. Bush said.

"Anyone in the country, starting today, can go online and sign up at www.donotcall.gov," Federal Trade Commission Chairman Timothy Muris said on CBS News' The Early Show, also noting that consumers west of the Mississippi, and in Minnesota and Louisiana can call 1-888-382-1222 to get on the list staring today. "Starting on July 7th, anybody in the country can call. Now, when you call, you have to call from the phone that you want to be registered."

The list will block about 80 percent of telemarketing calls, Muris said.

"People own their homes and their phones and now they will have a choice about whether they want the calls," Muris said in an interview.

As Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael Powell explained on The Early Show, there are limited exceptions built into the new program.

"Charities and politicians are not covered by the list," Powell said. "And if you have an existing business relationship in which you purchased something in the last 18 months, they can call you within that window. It's a very short time frame. Once that window expires, they are not allowed to call you unless you give your written permission."

Telemarketers also may call people if they have inquired about or applied for something from the company during the past three months.

Consumers can avoid those calls by asking to be put on an individual company's do-not-call list.

The telephone registration rollout is in stages to ensure the system can handle the volume of calls expected, the FTC said. The commission expects people to register up to 60 million phone numbers in the first year.

People who sign up this summer should see a decrease in telemarketing calls after the FTC begins enforcing the do-not-call list in October, the commission said. People would have to renew their registration every five years.

On the Web site people will have to provide the phone number they want protected and an e-mail address so they can receive a confirmation message. Consumers who call the toll-free number will have to call from the home or cell phone they want to register.

Telemarketers attempt up to 104 million calls to consumers and businesses every day, according to the Federal Communications Commission.

The FCC voted 5-0 Thursday to add its authority to the do-not-call list, blocking telemarketing calls from within a state — the FTC could only police interstate calls — and from industries whose calls the agency regulates, including airlines, banks and telephone companies.

Of the states with do-not-call lists, 13 plan to add their lists of 8.1 million numbers to the national registry this summer, three have legislation pending to allow them to share and 11 will not share the information, the FTC said. Consumers on state lists added to the national one do not need to register again.

Beginning in September, telemarketers will have to check the list every three months to determine who does not want to be called. Those who call listed people could be fined up to $11,000 for each violation. Consumers would file complaints to an automated phone or online system.

Congress authorized the FTC to collect up to $18.1 million from telemarketers to pay the program's expenses in the first year.

The telemarketing industry has said the registry will devastate their business and have sued the FTC, saying the program amounts to an unlawful restriction on free speech.

The Web site was responding slowly Friday because of the "extraordinary amounts of traffic," the FTC said. The commission was scrambling to add more computer equipment to handle the load.

"Consumers do not need to sign up today," the agency said in a statement.